


Family Sticks Together

by Tyler_Blackwing



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caduceus Clay Needs a Hug, Caleb Widogast Needs a Hug, Canon-typical language, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Empire Siblings - Freeform, Episode Tag, Family Feels, Gen, Hugs, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Mentioned canon pairings, Mighty Nein as Family, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Not Beta Read, Spoilers for C2E129, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyler_Blackwing/pseuds/Tyler_Blackwing
Summary: Sooo who needs some comfort after Episode 129?Spoilers inside, you have been warned!Chapter 1:It's been a lot, and Caduceus's composure is slowly crumbling. Fjord takes him aside for a Wildmother Bro talk.Chapter 2:Caleb hasn't been doing well since they started their recent heist and when he's unresponsive at dinner, Beauregard decides it's her Empire Sibling responsibility to get his head back into the present.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 79





	1. Wildmother Bros

**Author's Note:**

> Ooof, these people are consuming my life but they are telling such a captivating story...  
> Still, with family members endangered, Caduceus and Caleb were a bit neglected so I needed to fix that for my poor heart. Someone hug them.

It had been a DAY. Fjord was so glad when he touched the glowing stone - shortly after an incomprehensible message from Jester - and reappeared in a familiar alleyway. It had been a while, but the sight of Zadash was so much more comforting than the Happy Fun Ball. With a huff, he spun around to look at his teammates and the families. Everyone was there, good, Caleb looked pale but at least alive, and-

“I died!”

Fjord looked at Luc. The three of them were only gone for one hour! He looked at Veth.   
“Is that an expression in your family?”

“No, but… Caduceus saved him…”

Well, at least they were all alive now...

“Like the old saying... I killed my whole family and threw them under the bridge.”

Caleb’s voice was so rough. By the gods, what a day it had been. As he looked at Caduceus, who had resurrected the boy just like he’d done for him before, who always looked so grateful and relieved to see someone pop back up and tried to keep it together no matter how scared he was, he saw a deep weariness in his eyes. 

“Yeah I still have pain… but, it was good”, his friend said groggily. Jester went over and rubbed a strained spot on his neck, and the tall man knelt down to lean into her touch.

Fjord furrowed his brows. Just having pain seemed like a huge understatement. He’d take care of that later. For now, Jester’s mother was just short of a panic attack so he offered his hand and guided her through the streets, talking her through her fear until they reached their - hopefully - safe haven.   
  


Dinner at the Gentleman’s was awkward and solemn. It was endearing how Marion overcame her nerves and the mob boss seemed to melt in her presence (no pun intended), but the way Veth clung to her family was heartbreaking and he was almost glad that he had no family to be scared for. Except for these people.   
Risking a glance towards Caduceus, he found the cleric smiling pleasantly but weakly, seemingly concentrated on the Ruby and the Gentleman and sometimes on Luc, the boy oftentimes stretching his little fingers towards Caduceus’ pink hair or his hand on the table. Cute. Fjord smiled and took a sip of his whiskey. Beau was at his side, talking at Caleb, but their wizard friend was unresponsive. Fuck, he wished they hadn’t had to go in there, what the FUCK had they missed? He couldn’t disturb Jester or Veth right now, both were so preoccupied, so he’d have to wait for more information.

This was going to be a long rest of the day. 

They decided to split up, disguise themselves and get some stuff done. Beau dragged Caleb to the Cobalt Soul, Jester and Veth would stay with their families for safety, Yasha with them, and he would go to Pumat’s with Caduceus, hopefully getting some more potions. They assumed a human disguise and strolled through the streets inconspicuously, towards the invulnerable vagrant. 

“So”, he said awkwardly. Coughed. “Uh. You saved Luc?”

Caduceus took a while to reply. He scanned their surroundings as he always did, dutifully paranoid. He seemed similarly haunted as he did after the Inevitable End tried to assassinate him, and Fjord was worried as the low rumble of his friend’s voice reached his ears.   
“Yeah. It was… it was a lot.”

Fjord pressed his lips into a tight line and nodded, contemplating the strange atmosphere between them.    
“Well done”, he said quietly. “Your magic is very impressive. I can speak from experience, getting resurrected by you is very reassuring.”

Caduceus gave him a side glance and a tired smile. “Aw, thank you. Good to know.”

He held his gaze for a moment and furrowed his brow.    
“Caduceus-”

“We’re here.”

And his friend stepped through the door of the shop, effectively shutting down the conversation. Fjord sighed and followed suit, quickly telling Pumat Sol who they were and what was going on. Surprisingly enough, their magic using firbolg friend did not offer to accompany them to the icy planes of Eiselcross. Too bad. He did hand them a bag for their stuff though, and Fjord grumbled. 

“If I’d only realized that asshole stole it…”

Caduceus, right next to him, took a breath - but shut his mouth instantly, looking away, a playful smile fading from his human disguise.   
They were like family. He knew exactly that there was some gentle snark in his friend, but if Caduceus was too tired to be judgy, then something really was wrong. Admittedly, it hadn’t been easy recently, but comparing the level-headed cleric from when they’d first met to the Caduceus now he felt sorry for what their adventures had done to this wonderful person. 

Politely thanking Pumat on their way out, he grabbed his friend’s elbow and pulled him along.    
“Come on now”, he mumbled and weaved his way through the Pentamarket. 

They stopped at a baker’s booth and got a huge bag of small, spiced donuts for everyone and Fjord bought them hot chocolate, forcing a mug on his friend.   
Caduceus gave him a grateful smile, sipping the soothing liquid while walking alongside him. 

“It’s grey out”, he sighed after they’d almost reached the Evening Nip. “I was hoping for a bit of sun, to get the fright out of the family.”

Fjord smiled. “Luc seems to be rather chipper with you anyway. Likes you a lot.”

“Hm.” Caduceus’ hum ended in a small, amused smile. “Fart jokes go a long way.”

Fjord laughed, bewildered. “What?”

“He’s _four_. He likes farts. They’re funny.”

“I mean. I suppose they are?” Fjord shook his head. “You really have a way with kids, huh.”

“I like ‘em. Big family, remember?”

“Yes, I do. Seems like you’re making it bigger day by day.” 

To that, his friend actually turned his head, mild surprise on his face.

“What? The others found you, you took care of them, and then of us, and most people we meet - those who aren’t dicks - tend to like you and would trust you with their lives, and they’re not wrong.” 

He stepped into the bar, they dropped their disguises and greeted the grumpy barkeep before trudging down the stairs. 

“You know I’ve never had family, but I guess you’re the most… big brother-like I can imagine someone to be.”

Caduceus chuckled. “And I’m not even the eldest kid. Huh. I never thought of this journey as collecting more family. Just set out to help you, and find the one I already had.”

Fjord grinned at him. “Well, welcome to the Mighty Nein. You’ve got us, if you want it or not.”

His friend still looked bemused, but suddenly very tired. Walking into the almost empty bar they put their shopping down with Jester, who was playing cards with her parents, and Fjord ushered Caduceus into the bunk room they had shared with the Nein a long time ago.

The cleric put a hand on his arm just as he’d set down some of his stuff, and as he looked up to him, worried pink eyes scanned his face. 

“Were you hurt in there? I’m sorry I didn’t ask before. I was - preoccupied.”

Fjord smiled gently and patted Caduceus’ hand. 

“I’m fine, Ducey. Getting tired, but fine. Thank you.”

He sat down on the floor, pulling his friend with him, rummaged through one of his pouches. He set up some incense. Their knees almost touched after Caduceus adjusted his position, obviously puzzled but going with it. Strangely enough, he seemed antsy - not enjoying silence was strange for him, but Fjord held on to it for a while. Soft wafts of soothing incense smoke spread through the room and he turned to take in the state of his friend. The others must have rested or they wouldn’t be here, but Caduceus looked so exhausted. 

“How are you?”

It was strange, to see his friend baffled by such a question. To be fair, it wasn’t simple to answer for any of them at the moment, but it was so heartbreakingly worrying that he couldn’t help but put a hand on Caduceus’ knee, squeezing it reassuringly. 

“I, uh. It… was a lot, so… tired? I guess? It was a long… a couple long days. Weeks.” 

A nervous laugh, hopeless almost, and Fjord sighed deeply. Eiselcross hadn’t done the cleric any good, and the recent events really took a toll on him.   
Caduceus touched the side of his neck Jester had massaged earlier.    
  
“Does it hurt?”   
  
“Yeah, no, I’ll be fine, I think it’s just the stress.” 

“Here, let me.”   
Fjord shifted, putting a hand on Caduceus’ neck and rubbing the spot a bit, as you would after straining a muscle. He used some of his healing powers to ease the pain, and Caduceus _melted_ into the touch.    
  
“Ah, that’s nice, that’s real nice”, he mumbled and it was a bit slurred already, eyes fluttering closed and head leaning away to give him room to work. Fjord chuckled.    
  
“So what actually happened after we went in?” 

Caduceus blinked and looked at him for a long moment. Fjord tousled his hair on the side of his head, probably not as nice as Jester combing it a few days ago but he wasn’t quite comfortable with that much touching yet.   
Still, Caduceus relaxed into the gesture and rubbed a hand over his face.

“We used the scroll as we heard the door open and people coming in… We got out just barely. Astrid came into the room as we left. The… the place we teleported into was a cave on the… the fire plane, I think. There was lava. And furniture? And we thought we might be safe, but then a fire elemental attacked us and…”  
His voice wavered, and Fjord couldn’t help but put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing encouragingly.   
“Uh, sorry.” Caduceus pulled himself together and stared at the wafting incense. “We, uh. Pushed the families to hide behind a cabinet on the far end of the room, and… well, you know the reach of a fire spell attack. It caught them, caught Luc. Jester’s mom was holding him, but… it was too much.”

“Oh, _fuck_.” Fjord’s slip made Caduceus chuckle hysterically.    
  
“Yeah. Jester was out of spells. Caleb fell unconscious so that was bad enough, and the creature split up into three, and we beat them so we could reach Luc but he was burnt so badly-”

“You got Caleb AND Luc back up, after that day? Caduceus, that’s incredible.”   
  
“Nah, it’s what I’m here for.”    
Caduceus was shaking in his grip now, eyes wide, breath shallow.    
  
“Hey. Hey, Ducey.” Fjord grabbed him by both shoulders now and rubbed circles into them with his thumb.

“I’m- I’m sorry. It worked out, it all worked out, they’re okay, they’re all together again. The families are safe for now.”

“... yeah”, Fjord said, his eyes never leaving those of his friend’s. Who still wasn’t quite looking at him. 

“It was so close. I should be better at this, at dealing with this stuff. I trained for it my whole life. But seeing _them_ see him die…- He’s just a _child_.”

Fjord laughed quietly. “Scary, huh. It’s strange - earlier, I was thinking I’m glad I don’t really have family that I could be afraid of losing, but… to be honest, I have _you_ guys, and you’re in the most danger of all.”

“Grief is… natural. I can deal with grief. Why can’t I deal with _this_?”

His eyes looked wet. Fjord put a hand on his cheek.    
“You’re a man of faith, Caduceus, that doesn’t make you immune to fear. And fear of losing is tough. All of us understand that.”

A deep sigh left the scrawny body of his tall friend like a breath held for too long, and his voice was watery when he spoke again.   
“Fjord, I- Sorry, but- do you mind? I could _really_ use a hug right now and Jester’s downstairs and…-”

Blinking, Fjord pulled his hand back, Caduceus’ breakdown more than apparent now.    
“Of course, Caduceus, sure, whatever you need.” 

It was odd for him but he didn’t mind a bit, so he opened his arms and let his friend slump forward, forehead resting on his shoulder. Fjord carefully draped his arms around him and patted his back. 

“Thank you. For caring, and listening, and helping. You’ve been doing so well these last weeks. But you don’t always have to be the strong one, you know that, yes?”   
  
Caduceus laughed weakly. “I mean, I do, kinda. Caleb and Beau are afraid of what’s happening, and Yasha’s sad, and now Veth and Jester with their families… They’re mostly just barely keeping it together.”   
  
“That doesn’t mean you need to carry all of their weight until you break, though.”

Fjord held his friend a little more tightly, carding one hand through his hair. He was sobbing. Good.

“Come on, deep breaths, Ducey. It’s okay.”

His friend followed the instruction, putting long arms around his waist and letting the tension drain out of him. Fjord didn’t move an inch, never stopping to pat the pink strands and wondering if he’d be able to make braids like Jester did for him.

“You were threatening me at the time, but you told me you loved me like family”, he murmured, placing both hands firmly on his friend’s back. “I don’t really know how I would love _actual_ family, but I daresay I feel the same. I love you like a brother I never had. And I got your back. I get scared, too, but I know I’m not scared alone, that’s something. Better than being the only one who’s afraid.”

At that, Caduceus laughed a bit. “You do scream a lot in fights, yeah.”

Fjord scrunched up his face. “Yep. Yeah. Rub it in, will you.”   
  
“You get hit a lot, too, though, so that’s fair.”   
  
“Well, you get me back up when I do so…”

“Don’t count on it.”   
  
“Caduceus!” He gasped in feigned shock, pushing the cleric away to look at his face.   
  
He rubbed tears from his cheeks but smiled tiredly, giving him a nod. Better.

“Thanks, Fjord. I needed that.”

A shy half-shrug, and he hugged his friend again.

“Anytime, Ducey. I’m here for you, whenever you need.”


	2. Empire Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beau takes Caleb aside during their trip to the Cobalt Soul. After all, all of the Mighty Nein know how prone he is to losing himself in thoughts. Sometimes it needs some tough love to drag him back to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love their dynamic, I adore Beauregard and someone PLEASE hug Caleb, he is a sad wizard boy and needs affection ;_;

Caleb was catatonic during the dinner.   
He was sitting on the opposite of Beau and she was talking through it, about the ball and about how they’d destroyed the walkway from the first chamber and probably some other things and he was sure he heard ‘books’ somewhere in there, but he couldn’t focus. The voices drowned out his thoughts but he wasn’t in a state to pay attention, he was so tense and each glance at Luc or Yeza or Marion pierced his chest like a crossbow bolt.

When Beau grabbed his arm to tell him they’d go to the Cobalt Soul together, he just went with it. He barely remembered to disguise himself (Beau just hiding with a hood, she’d need to show her face to an archivist to get in at least) and followed her quietly. 

Beau led him through the streets and they entered the library, picking their way to some people and she talked to one or two of them as he sunk deeper and deeper into his thoughts.

He found himself in a clean, tidy room after a while, with a punch to his shoulder.

“Ow!”, he said, voice raspy.

“I was talking to you, man, come on.”  
  
“Punching isn’t talking”, he said and rubbed the sore spot, avoiding her eyes.

“Hey. What’s going on? You okay, man? You’ve hardly spoken all day.”

“I… nothing. A lot. Too much. But nothing. I can’t-...”

Beau punched him again, then she grabbed his shoulders.   
“Come on, man. I’ve been talking all the time and we were just gone for, like, an hour. I mean, if you don’t wanna talk that’s okay but don’t bullshit me.”

Caleb swallowed but the lump in his throat remained. He fixed his gaze to the floor and shivered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.   
  
“You need Frumpkin?”, she prompted.

He huffed. That was actually a good idea. So he summoned his cat around his neck, purring and making kitty biscuits on his collarbone, catching careful claws in his scarf. He absentmindedly patted the soft short fur on Frumpkin’s head and scratched his ear.   
Sniffling, he took a shaky breath and felt Beauregard’s hands squeeze his arms again.

“Better?”  
  
“Ja.”

“Okay.”

She stared at him for a while longer, sucking air through her teeth like she was hesitating to speak at him again. Then she schooled her face into a tight-lipped grimace of a smile.

“So. Where did that thing take you again?”  
  
“Fire plane, I think. There was lava. It was hot.”

“Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool.” 

She nodded a couple of times. It was annoying. He raised his eyes to look into hers and she stopped moving, watched him closely as he shook his head and then let it hang low. One of his hands came up to press fingers against the corners of his eyes, head bursting in pain.    
  
“This all went to shit, this was a shit idea, it was so stupid”, he whispered.    
  
Beau shook him gently, Frumpkin chirruping at the motion. 

“Shut up, Caleb. This went as well as it could’ve gone. We were too many for the scroll, we made it out of the Happy Fun Ball in time, we’re all here.”  
  
“Luc. DIED”, he said, suddenly intense, staring straight into her eyes. “LUC. Veth’s _son_. The ONE person we should have protected the _most_ \- _I_ should have protected the most. I let him get BURNED to _death_ , Beauregard. I brought their families into a figurative hellhole and one of them _died_.”

“That’s not on you, though.”   
  
“It is.”   
  
“No it’s fucking _not_ ”, she sneered. “It’s the only way out we had. And safer than fighting fucking Trent Icky-Thong after the day we’d had.”

“But it was so dangerous for them.”  
  
“You wanna think about what TRENT would’ve done to them? I don’t recommend it, honestly, because that guy is creepy as FUCK, so we took a chance and luckily, you’ve had one DAMN good cleric with you.”

Caleb stared at her and deflated a bit.    
“We should have kept them safe by _not doing this_.”   
  
“Trent knew about the Ruby of the Sea anyway. You think he wouldn’t have used that knowledge at some point? They need those necklaces. _We_ need those necklaces. It didn’t go well but you guys got us a really good piece of protection there. And enough for everyone, too.”   
  
“I endangered Essek even more - oh Götter, Trent knows about _Essek_ …” 

His mind started racing again, his eyes flicked from side to side. Essek, and the family, and they needed allies, and they still needed more information and/or weapons and… and...   
  
“Hey.” Beau patted his cheek, making him look again. “Essek knows he’s up to his neck in danger. He _knows_. You got him that necklace - not really his style but I guess he’ll be okay with that - and it’ll keep him safe. Not right now, but we’ll go back up there soon. Man, this is a shitty week. I think we’ve never been this productive.”   
  
Caleb laughed a dry laugh.   
“Ja, I think we’ve been up to a lot recently.”   
  
“Could use a vacation on Rumblecusp when we’re done.”   
  
“I will get us there. If we live.”

She patted his arm and caught his gaze once more. Then she pulled him in, slowly but not half as awkward as their earlier hugs.   
“Come on. That’s right, yeah. Just give in”, she muttered and rubbed his back with one hand. 

And Caleb did give in, because this had been _such_ a bad week, and he still felt all the fear and anxiety rush through him. A few shaky breaths and his face contorted as if in pain, tears stinging in his eyes.   
  
“You kept ‘em as safe as you could.” 

She squeezed him a bit and he quietly cried into her shoulder, his chest rocked by violent sobs. 

He hadn’t wanted this to happen. None of this. They’d made so many mistakes. This was all stupid.

“What are we _doing_ , Beauregard”, he whispered incredulously. “This is too big for us.”

She held him more tightly. 

“Yeah, it is.”   
  
“I’m so scared. I have no idea what’s going on any more, I’m trying to plan and get everything done, but it’s not _enough_ -”   
  
“Hey, man”, she said and pushed him away, just a bit, to look at his face from the side. “We’re all just doing what we can. We’re not professionals, not really. Not for _this_ kind of shit. Honestly, for the kind of shit we get into, you’re doing pretty fucking great.”   
  
Caleb hid his face back in her monk robes, which were dotted with tear spots by now.    
“I’ve been messing up, that’s not what I would call great.”   
  
“We’re only people. Let’s leave the miracles to Jester and…- okay, Artagan is useless, let’s leave the miracles to Caduceus, huh?” 

Caleb laughed weakly. “We’ll need more than one god on our side for this.”  
  
Beau punched his side again. 

“We’ve also got the Cobalt Soul, Ioun’s supposed to be on our side. And who knows, maybe the Moonweaver doesn’t hate us?”   
  
“After Rumblecusp? She probably does.”   
  
“Eh, you’re probably right. A lot of people do.” '  
  
“Ja, can’t blame them.”

“U-huh.”

They stayed like this for a while, bickering, Beauregard rubbing and patting his back. Slowly, Caleb calmed down - he wouldn’t let go of the guilt, not in a while, but at least he wasn’t alone with it. Jester’s gentle touch on his hand, Marion’s kind words, Beauregard. The others, too…   
But there was so much fear among them, too, he was sure Veth would need to get talked to, and Caduceus didn’t look too good, and…-

“Caleb”, Beau said quietly and she looked at him again. “Don’t try to do it alone. It’s not all on you. We’re in this because we stick together.”

“You mean we get stuck in trouble together.”  
  
“Yeah - remember when we were part of a secret revolution to get rid of a corrupt judge?”

He huffed a tired laugh. “Good old simple times.”  
  
“Yeah. Simple.”

They grinned at each other, weakly.   
  
“Thanks again, by the way”, she said. “The tower, for the date. It was so much more beautiful than I thought.”   
  
“I’m glad you got your date, Beauregard. I’m happy for you.”

She squirmed, in that fun, embarrassed way she had when she was admitting to feelings, and she deflected like he knew she would.    
“You- fuck, I hate this. Okay. Whatever, thanks.”

“I will never make my cats into dogs again.”   
  
“Aw come on, they’re adorable.”   
  
“They are _cats_ though.”

“Yeah okay, it’s your tower, so that’s fair.”  
  
“Thank you.”

She held up her hand.   
“Empire siblings ‘til the end?”   
  
Caleb sighed deeply. It might come earlier than he’d like, but at least he’d have friends by his side. With a clap, he took her hand and looked into her eyes, nodding solemnly.

“Til the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caleb is not a very optimistic person but at least he lets himself get dragged along his friends...  
> Hope you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope this did your hearts some good.   
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
